Hothouse

Hothouse is an independent gift and accessories shop on The Shambles in Worcester city centre, and dogs are welcome inside — so nobody needs to do the pavement-waiting shuffle while someone else rummages through the handbags and scarves.

With fashion accessories, jewellery, handbags, scarves, home fragrance, skincare and gift ideas all part of the mix, it's the kind of place where a quick wander can quietly become a proper rummage. It has a friendly, independent-shop feel rather than chain-store sameness, which makes it a nice little stop for city-centre pottering. The shop is open Monday to Saturday, 9:00am to 5:30pm, and closed on Sundays.

Very easy to imagine leaving with a gift, a treat for yourself, and absolutely no memory of the original shopping plan. A useful wet-weather browse when paws and people need somewhere colourful to duck into together.